[Location] The Silver Tongue

by **Leviathan** on September 3rd, 2011, 11:00 pm

Silvertongue's Silver Tongue

Silvertoungue's Silver tongue is one of the finer stores in all of Sunberth, and nestled prominently within the Gated Community. Passerby's may wonder at the marvels of jewelry on display, but the shop's owner has a reputation, that many do not wish to cross.

While the merchandise is almost certainly stolen, no one truly cares, and Cossette will certainly be glad to sell back someone's 'precious things' so long as there's no fuss, but with a sizable mark up of course.

NPC

Cossette "Silver Tongue" Demoya

Race: Benshira

A spry and dynamic young woman to be sure, her eyes gleam fiercely with passion for her business and she's known for being the most 'darling of company.' Especially to those willing to spend their hard earned gold within the confines of her shop and she takes great strides to ensure her customer' s walk away with a smile on their face thinking about the precious stones they bought for their latest paramour.

On the surface, it seems this woman is the epitome of a saleswoman which one might find, impeccable in manners and taste. Below the facade lies a highly intelligent woman capable of assessing the value of any jewel which happens to come her way.

It doesn't matter the item in question, purloined or otherwise, if its a necklace, a mother's favorite bracelet, an old tablet, or a lover's ring, she can tell you where it was made, and assess it's true value. Not that she'd tell you the exact amount if she was willing to buy from hawkers or thieves who happened to 'find' certain things.

Cossette does have to run a business after all. But be wary, those who have tried to cross her or steal from her shop tend to find themselves liable to be ... dealt with. Some rumors say she is associated with Sun's Birth, others with the Night Eyes. But no one, knows where her true loyalties lie save for the suggestion they ultimately rest only with herself.

As Ruby's sister she tends to give a slight discount to her sister's girl's, but that's the only sign of familial affection between the two.

Larceny 50, Stealth 48, Gemsmithing 30, Appraisal 30, Forgery 30 Locksmithing 26, Negotiation 30, Persuasion 21, Seduction 30, Dagger 41, Dagger(throwing) 36, Observation 38. Fashion 26

Created by Archelon

by **Rosabelle** on September 8th, 2011, 11:20 pm

Fall 1st, 511 AV Late Afternoon

Rosabelle swiftly stepped into the the jewelry shop, very pleased to get out of the pouring rain. If she wasn't wet before, she was now drenched and dripping water into the floor. She made a face as she realized this and pulled her cloak out of her backpack to dry herself off. She quickly noticed the pretty necklaces and rings scattered throughout the small shop and admired them with her eyes. She didn't dare touch them in fear she would somehow ruin the precious stones. She tore her eyes away from the gems as she remembered what she was here for. She walked her way over to the counter, her shoes squeaking with every step. I really need to get an umbrella...

She caught sight of herself in a mirror and sighed. All of her make-up was smudged and her hair was lacking her usual curls. If she wanted to land a job anywhere, the highly doubted she was going to get one looking like this. She took the clip she was wearing out of her hair to twist it into a simple updo, replacing the clip back in for support. She fixed her bangs and wiped the excess make-up from under her eyes.There. she thought to herself, forcing a friendly smile on her face. Now maybe people won't think I look like a crazed killer!

She pulled herself together as much as she could and slowly walked over to the pretty woman behind the counter. She hoped that the woman didn't see her primping herself. For some reason when she thought about it, her cheeks flared up in embarrassment. "Hello! My name is Rosabelle. I am here for your part-time job offering."

by **Archelon** on September 8th, 2011, 11:57 pm

@ Rosa

The sound of Cosette skirts swishing in the air as she rose from the chair with a dignified grace was the only notion of the woman hearing Rosabelle as she came out from behind the counter. Circling the other woman like an appraiser she sighed a little as an amused twinkle came to her eye, "Whats the matter dear, did you have a bit of a bedhead this morning? Perhaps gallivanting out with some beau like a proper bella? No?"

She waved her hand dismissively as she gave Rosa a wink as one hand reached out to cup Rosabelle's chin, "No no need to answer that let me take a look at you. My what gorgeous eyes you have my dear." Cossette smiled conspiratorialy as the store owner propped one hand on her hip before leaning a little closer to bridge the gap between them. Her nose was almost touching Rosa's and her breath, sweetly could be felt on the other woman's cheek as she was appraised just like any precious jewel. "and what a delightful set of facial features, strong cheekbones... but do I see just a touch of sadness in those eyes? My my, the guys must be absolutely fawning over you."

Cossette finished with a small bit amused chuckle before she leaned backwards a little, widening the distance between Rosa and herself. Her hand traversed from Rosa's chin to her left shoulder as she continued. Giving a small squeeze of reassurance to the nervous girl the shop owner continued. "That's good though, honey. You may be able to be a good saleswoman if you make the best of your features.Oh don't worry girl I'm not going to bite you! You're perfectly safe. Tua said a delightful young woman would come my way to help out, and Tua's word is good enough for me. Let me tell you that! My only real concern is whether you'd be able to follow my rules... Do you know what they are?"

With her eyes twinkling with mirth Cossette threw up her hands and whispered in a mock shrew's voice. Rosabelle could tell the woman was having fun with her, but not necessarily at her expense. Tapping a finger aside her chin Cossette walked past Rosabelle before spinning around to cock her head sideways at the girl. In a polite business tone, she explained. "The first rule I have is always be friendly, no matter what even if you're laying down the law and kicking a man out of the store. Can you show me a smile, my dear? Go on, pretend I'm the customer, what would you say if I wanted to buy something?"

Cossette's brow furrowed slightly as another amused smile graced her features. And afterwards, with one hand on her him she simply stared at Rosabelle, wondering what she might do to show Cossette she deserved the job...

by **Rosabelle** on September 9th, 2011, 8:36 am

Rosa's eyebrows raised and her eyes widened as Colette evaluated her, but then gave a weak smile as her shoulder was squeezed. Her eyes followed the woman's every move as she moved gracefully about the room. For some reason, Colette seemed almost to put her at ease, but still have her on the edge of her seat. It was a weird feeling that she hadn't experienced in a while. She quickly shook it off and paid close attention to the rest of what she had to say.

She nervously swallowed and quickly flashed a bright smile when Colette told her to, her heart beating a little faster as she was expected to show off her saleswoman skills. To be honest, she's never done anything like this before, but she was very good at flattering people and telling them what they wanted to hear. And when it came to her male customers she was sure a sweet smile or little flash of the leg could convince them enough.

She kept her friendly smile on her face as she stepped a couple feet towards Colette, her hips swaying with confidence as she approached her. "Good afternoon, madam. And welcome to The Silver Tongue!" she said enthusiastically,turning on the charm and making full eye contact. It was a little difficult looking such an intimidating woman dead in the eyes, but somehow she seemed to manage. "Were you looking for anything particular today? We have a beautiful selection of fine necklaces, rings, earrings, bracelets... anything you could imagine in a jewelry shop, and probably even more." she said with a slight wink at the end. As she listed off the types of jewelry, she made sure she gestured to the nicer pieces in the shop, trying to make everything seem appealing as possible.

Rosa stopped talking, her heart still beating faster than normal. She wondered where all of that came from and was a little surprised with herself. Her cheeks hurt a little bit from smiling so much, but she never stopped. She wondered if she gave a little bit too much cheese, but she figured it was good to have more than necessary rather than not enough. A silent breath escaped her lips as she attempted to calm her nerves, waiting for Colette to either ask her a question or assess her skills right there. She hoped for the easy way out.

by **Archelon** on September 9th, 2011, 8:13 pm

After a long moment's pause to stare at Rosabelle's smiling face, the shop's mistress spoke in a mock stern voice. "Hmmm... not bad, not bad at all for a beginner my dear." A small crook of her upturned lips was the only sign of amusement breaking through the stoic demeanor as she continued. "You know I almost wanted to let that drag out a little just to see if your face stuck that way."

Turning around she marched forwards to the store entrance and took out a set of keys that hung from her neck. Locking the door she turned back to Rosabelle. "Alright, from now on you're my clerk. Just don't be like the last one and try to steal anything... his end was rather... messy shall we say? Anyways, it's time to show you my workshop and the back storage room." With a cheery demeanor the woman hooked Rosa's arm into the crook of her elbow and began tugging her along, past the counter and into the next room. It was a neat and orderly affair with a bookshelf on one side filled with books about gems, and jewelry, as well as crafting and cosmetic journals. Along the walls were an assorted number of desks here, two with magnifying glasses sitting on the desktops.Next to each was a safe. Rows of shelves held many rags and oils for the cleaning and brushing of products.

"Now as you can see here, this is the workshop, I assign anyone working for me their own desk and safe. I keep the main keys and give each clerk a safe key of their own work safe for the day which must be returned as soon as the day ends. This leads us to Rule Number two: I control the keys, and the Register. If you are helping a customer, please feel free to call me over and I will hand you the item from the cases and if the customer decides to buy it, you will hand me the sales receipt for the final payment. Is that clear?"

Rosabelle muttered a meek , "Yes."

Waving her hand to shush Rosa a little Cosette continued on with her business manner. "Now in each person's safe I have already invested in getting them any toolkits they need to safely clean, or even repair jewelry later on when they become more skilled. All tools I've allotted to you may be used freely, but only on the premises, they are to be locked away in your personal safe at the end of your workday. You will be held accountable for them, or any piece of merchandise I give you to clean which vanishes on your watch if you do not lock them properly back in the safe after you are done with working on them. For the moment, I'll probably start you off by having you clean some of the iron trinkets some of the pauper ladies use. And now... this leads us to rule number three."

Steering Rosabelle back towards the doorway with a light touch where she could see the sales floor, Cosette noted, "Rule Number Three is: One person must remain on the sales floor at all times unless that front door is locked. This is sunberth after all and each of us will no doubt have to deal with opportunistic thieves. Normally I just scare them off with a thrown knife or two, but worse comes to worse, I've pegged a man in the heart with a throwing dagger before he got three paces towards the door. Since you're new, I'd expect you to do it within ten. Worse comes to worse, call out to the dragoons and they'll chase down and slay the rotten scamps for me, it's what we pay them for after all."

Dragging her back a little towards the back storeroom Cosette continued the tour. "Now in the storeroom you'll note it's not like many other storerooms, It's got a myriad number of locks and safes for safekeeping of items."

Speechless at being whirled about so many times, Rosabelle pointed towards a training post mounted near the far wall, noting it had a dagger sticking out of it. She would also note a series of mannequin heads sitting on the walll with different hairstyles and coloring. "Oh, that's my personal training post, I hate throwing knives in bad weather. As most of the things here in the storeroom are fully metal and the bricks are of stone it's easy to have a little thing like that to practice with. You may practice on it as well if there are no customers and one of us is out on the floor. There's a small loo connecting through the workshop, and a set of steps leading up to the second floor where my humble abode is. There's a lock on the doorway there, but Rule Four- never let anyone into the second floor without violently attempting to stop them. The only exception is my marvelous sister, Ruby, who feels its wonderfully exciting to wake me up after I decide to sleep in for a day. You'll meet her soon enough. She runs the bordello across the street with all the fancy ladies in dresses. And the mannequin heads are what I sometimes use cosmetics on to show Ruby's girls how certain jewelry such as hair clasps may complement their skin tones. Helps with a sale you know. Sometimes if Ruby needs help with a major show I tend to go help get them all dressed, you might be brought along too, but feel free use the mannequins heads anyways you wish, but *don't* cut their hair. It doesn't grow back you know and is awfully tedious to glue new strand onto their wooden scalps."

Taking Rosabelle's arm once again, the shopmistress showed her with all the force of a hurricane, and gentleness of a kitten's paw back towards the front of the shop before turning back to Rosa. Her eyes were almost sparkling with excitement as she glanced into Rosabelle's eyes. "So that's the tour, what do you think you willing to help me out as a clerk? Pays Three mizas a day, and you have an entire workshop to better your skills. So what do you say? Are you still interested?"

by **Rosabelle** on September 10th, 2011, 9:25 am

Still a little flustered from the tour, Rosabelle quickly swallowed and tried to regain her composure. "Yes!" she said excitedly, putting both hands on her hips. "This is just a wonderful place you've got here!" She took another gander around the room. It really was probably one of the nicest shops in Sunberth, and she considered herself very lucky to be able to work here. She didn't think she'd have a problem with the rules either. She was more then ready to pull herself out of her old teenage habits. It was time for her to be an adult now.

She let her arms go loose, making a slapping sound against her thighs. "So... when will I be starting?" she asked, her eyes glittering with energy at Colette. She was ready to start anytime it was needed of her.

by **Archelon** on September 11th, 2011, 3:10 am

@ Rosabelle

Cosette smiled a little and reached over to place her hand on the arm of her boisterous new clerk. "Don't worry my dear. You've already started! And your welcome back tomorrow for the real work to begin. But for now, why don't we have a bit of tea and get to know each other? Oh and before I forget, there is just one other room on the ground floor, near the stairwell I keep locked. You can only go in there when I'm present as its where I make some of my own jewelry and has a small forge of different metal wires, beadwork bins, and stones."

Walking Rosabelle to sit at a stool by the counter, Cosette disappeared into the back of the store a moment before bringing out a two porcelain cups upon which the aroma of freshly brewed tea wafted through the air. Laying both on the counter, the lady fixed them up right with a bit of sugar and milk and handed one to Rosabelle to drink. For the next hour they spoke and talked about many numerous things, the same small talk that every woman in the world might share before Cosette bade her farewell with a smile and when the rain let up for a moment the shopmistress shooed Rosa out the door to run back to wherever her tent or home was telling her to come back tomorrow.

OOC/IC notes :